Thursday, 31 October 2013

After very little consideration, I've decided I'm going to be delving into NaNoWriMo this year. I really didn't intend to, but Game On Book 3 needs writing, and the characters are chatty, so I figured I'd go with it.

I've done no planning, but that's okay because the story has stewed in my head for a year, so I pretty much know how it's gonna go. I did intend to be releasing the book by this time, not just writing it, but things happen. I am sorry to everyone who has been waiting to see what happens next in Westberg, but if I get the story done this month, it should be out in January next year!

Also, the bonus Game On Christmas story I wrote last year will soon be available as an ebook. I plan to make it free, but you know how things go on Amazon. It may cost 77p for an eternity! The point behind the Game On Christmas story was to prepare for the next book, from Bree's POV. Since I have now plotted out the whole series, this small glance into the lives of the characters does in fact offer some insights into what will come next, so it's worth having! I will keep you up to date on the progress.

Finally, it is the last day of the Game On bloghop! There's still time to join in as I won't be reading the entries until late tonight - so if you want to play, the details are here!

Monday, 28 October 2013

The Game On Series is centered around a soccer team in the U.S, and those of you who have already read the books will know the hottie of the series is Radleigh McCoy.
Between October 28th and October 31st, I want to hear from you about your sporting crushes!

Does David Beckham do it for you? What about swimming sensations Michael Phelps or Rebecca Adlington? When did you first notice your sporting crush, and what do you like best about them? Have you ever been lucky enough to see them in action?
Please keep posts to a maximum of 500 words (this is for the benefit of Clare Dugmore who offered me a 10-page essay! ;) LOL!).

Yes, of course there are prizes!

1) New paperback copies of Game On and Blindsided
2) E-copies of any of my books (3 winners)
3) A full manuscript edit (2 winners)

So, who is my sporting crush? Well, over the years there have been quite a few! The Olympics certainly brought some hotties to my attention! However, if I'm going to be perfectly honest, there is one man in sport who has had a strong grip on my heart for many years:

Yup. WWE's Randy Orton is the one for me! Seriously, look at those lips, those tattoos... *whimpers*. It is entirely Clare Dugmore's fault that I fell in love with him. Well, not exactly, but she - many years ago - reminded me how much I loved watching wrestling and Randy Orton was pretty much the first guy I saw, followed closely by Edge (who I also still love!). I've not yet been lucky enough to see Randy Orton wrestle, but one day, I am going to make it happen!!

You can join in with the bloghop anytime over the next few days - and I will be looking over all the entries at the end of the week! Come join the fun!

Wednesday, 23 October 2013

Yes, Christine Rains is back to visit on her blog tour for the 13th Floor Collection! Christine might just be the busiest lady I know, and seeing her work so hard is super inspiring! Today Christine tells us about the romance between Veenya and Galen from "The Shadow". Take it away, Christine!

VEENYA & GALEN

Veenya's life was easier when her only joys
came from the rush of the hunt and dancing in the shadows. Born of dark magic,
her only purpose was to fulfill her Master's orders. Fraternizing with other
shadow assassins of her clan was frowned upon, but she couldn't resist Galen's
pull. When she fell in love with him, she gave herself fully. Except now she's
a traitor, and the clan is hunting her. Never before would she think of running
from her lover, but she doesn't want to risk his life too.

As the second in command of the clan, Galen
is feared. He's good at what he does. Very good. His deadliness with a blade is
only matched by the tenderness which he shares with Veenya. It devastates him
when he learns she has refused their Master's orders, and she is now targeted
as an enemy. His loyalty had always been to the clan, but it had never been
challenged as it is now.

Veenya and Galen's story is heartbreaking.
They found one another in their dark and dangerous world. With each other, they
have something none others of their kind ever find: love. When Veenya is marked
a traitor, Galen feels he has no other option than to hunt her. She pleads with
him to join her and run away. Yet there is nowhere in the world where shadows
do not touch. Their Master will be able to find them.

Though “The Shadow” is a short story, it's
packed full of intense emotions. And though their relationship has shattered,
Veenya sees something whole and new beyond the darkness of the shadows. The
question is: will Galen see it too?

**

Title: The 13th Floor Complete
Collection

Author: Christine Rains

Genre: paranormal romance

Release date: October 13th, 2013

Blurb:

Six supernatural tenants

Living in a haunted apartment building

On a floor that doesn't exist.

Six novellas telling their tales.

A retired demon acquires a price on his
head.

A werewolf is hunted by her pack.

A modern day dragonslayer misses his
target.

A harpy challenges Zeus for the soul of the
man she loves.

A vampire is obsessed with a young woman he
can't find.

A banshee falls in love with someone who's
death she has seen in a vision.

And a sweet ghost must battle a primal
monster to save them all.

All the stories take place at the same time
intertwining their lives together on the 13th Floor.

Christine Rains is a writer, blogger, and geek mom.
She has four degrees which help nothing with motherhood, but make her a great
Jeopardy player. When she's not writing or reading, she having adventures with
her son or watching cheesy movies on Syfy Channel. She's a member of Untethered
Realms and S.C.I.F.I. The 13thFloor
series is her first self-published series. She has eight novellas and
twenty-one short stories published.

Friday, 18 October 2013

To celebrate the release of the 2nd Edition of Game On, and the new covers, I'm throwing a bloghop! Here are all the details:

The Game On Series is centered around a soccer team in the U.S, and those of you who have already read the books will know the hottie of the series is Radleigh McCoy.

Between October 28th and October 31st, I want to hear from you about your sporting crushes! Does David Beckham do it for you? What about swimming sensations Michael Phelps or Rebecca Adlington? When did you first notice your sporting crush, and what do you like best about them? Have you ever been lucky enough to see them in action?

Please keep posts to a maximum of 500 words (this is for the benefit of Clare Dugmore who offered me a 10-page essay! ;) LOL!).

Yes, of course there are prizes!

1) New paperback copies of Game On and Blindsided
2) E-copies of any of my books (3 winners)
3) A full manuscript edit (2 winners)

It would be awesome if you could spread the word about this hop, but it's not a requirement. Mostly, I want everyone to have fun!

Aand, the new Kindle versions of Game On and Blindsided are available know!Amazon USAmazon UK

Thursday, 17 October 2013

Here's the thing, I have barely paused for breath in the last few weeks. I've been doing a ton of editing work, and I LOVE it, but boy, it's tiring. One of the biggest reasons for me not blogging lately is that I've been reading all day long. When I finish work, my eyes just want to close. This is also the reason why I am SO far behind on reading all of the books you guys have published in the last few months. I need to spend some time soon sorting out my Goodreads list because I know for sure there are books missing that I want to read. Actually, maybe I will do this next....

The WIP I recently finished and haven't told anyone about yet (well apart from my CPs, of course) was on a"rest" because... well, based on the exhausting process of editing Game On, I have now realised that it's okay not to rush the publishing process. This new book feels special, and that's why I wanted to make 100% sure I'm happy with it before I put it out. *giggles* SO, last night I happened to see the #AdPit Twitter contest thing going on and as I never usually have anything to pitch, I figured since I did, I would. This was my pitch:

"One girl. One band. The publicity stunt from hell."

And, an agent favourited it, so I sent off a query and my first ten pages last night! Eeek! The pitch was made on a whim, so I'm not expecting miracles BUT I am hopeful. And scared. This whole query thing is new to me!

EDIT: Just received a very polite rejection letter - and that's totally fine with me! It's only my first rejection, so I'm pretty upbeat lol!

Also, I just mentioned that I've been editing Game On. I know I've mentioned it here before but it's all done now, and I'm just finalising covers and such. It's SUPER exciting, and it's also been useful in helping me prepare for Game On book 3! To celebrate the Game On re-launch, I will be doing a bloghop, stay tuned as the details will be coming soon!

Finally, I changed up my blog layout! I don't know how long I'll keep it, but I like it for now!

Wednesday, 16 October 2013

The lovely Theresa Paolo released her debut novel, (Never) Again, this week, and to celebrate, she's having a bloghop!

Here are the deets: Liz, the main character of (Never) Again got her heart broken and
refused to ever open it up to anyone again. We all know how that goes
though. How many times have you swore off something only to step right
back into it? So for this bloghop I want to know what it is you swore
you would never do again and then wound up doing. It could be anything.
Dating a guy, drinking, going on the roller coaster that made you vomit,
anything.

Okay, so I figured this would be simple, because I'm sure everyone has something they promised themselves they'd never do again. As it turns out, I have quite a lot!

The one I'm going to go with has to do with dating - it seemed fitting!

When I was at school, my first boyfriend sort of happened out of nowhere. I liked the guy, but I didn't know he liked me. He made the first move which surprised the hell out of me, and we started dating soon after. We had a kind of... intense relationship. We broke up a lot and every time, I decided I was done. At one stage, there was a full year and a half gap between us getting back together, but I was never able to fully break the connection. It finally ended when he arranged to meet me one time and didn't show. THAT was the final straw. But it took about three and a half years for me to draw a line under the relationship.

Yo-yo relationships SUCK.

You can buy (Never) Again by Theresa Paolo from Amazon by clicking here.

Thursday, 10 October 2013

I know I've not been around much, but I felt like this needed to be shared. Because handling a bad review is not easy, no matter who you are.

Recently, my favourite band, Fozzy, had a review written about one of their gigs on Metal Hammer. The reviewer said Fozzy's music is as "heavy as lettuce." - Prepare yourself for one of the most fantastic responses to a bad review you will ever see: